My twin grandsons were here recently. They are so much fun. Of course their parents are exhausted, but as grandparents, we thoroughly enjoy our time with them. It started me thinking how many twins you see these days. It's commonplace to see double strollers, when in the past this was rare. My neighbor just had twins, and there's another set on the next block. Why so many twins? There are a couple of reasons.
Women are having babies later in life, and often need assisted fertility treatments. These two factors both lead to multiple births.
As a woman ages, she has a higher chance of releasing two or more eggs at ovulation instead of just one. Doctors believe this is so that hormone levels as a woman approaches menopause start to decrease and the body responds by increasing ovarian activity. After the age of 35 a woman has twice the likelihood of conceiving twins than a 25 year old woman. The odds increase each year after that, with a woman in her 50's having a 30% chance of having twins. So this explains how women without the aid of fertility drugs are having twins at a much higher rate.
Fertility drugs to induce ovulation is another reason for multiple births. These drugs increase the likelihood of two eggs being released at once. The likelihood of multiple births is even higher with couples who choose assisted reproductive techniques like IUI's and IVF. In nearly of of these cases, the twins will not be identical because they will result from two different eggs.
The question as to why so many women are having difficulty conceiving is another issue, and remains speculative. Stress, life style and age are all factors. How often does a woman try for years to conceieve, then adopt, and get pregnant within the year? I've heard many stories like this. The stress of trying to conceive is off, they relax, and poof, they conceive.
Take a look at the strollers in your neighborhood or at the mall and see how many doubles you see. Twins are in!
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